I'm with you
by AmyRenee55
Summary: Elizabeth has lost everything. She joins the war, thinking she had nothing left to lose. She was wrong.


**A/N: This is a rewrite of a story I had already published. I realized I went way too fast on that and there were a lot of mistakes I wasn't okay making. If anyone has some constructive criticism to help me out, I'm all ears! Or if you have any idea's for the storyline. I have a general idea of what I want to happen, but idea's are always welcome. Thanks!**

* * *

"Ma'am?" The voice in my ear startled me awake. "Are you okay?" I looked up into the man's face, squinting at the early morning sun that was just shining over the horizon.

"Y-yes.. I'm fine." I brought my hands up to rub my face. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to chase away the last remnants of my nightmare. This was the fourth one just this week.

"Sergeant James Barnes." He stood up. "Are you sure you're okay?" He looked concerned. His gray blue eyes regarded me carefully.

"I'm fine, Sergeant." I managed to sit up. "You're not supposed to be here, you know." I said, looking around for any of the other females that were supposed to be in the tent. I had been staying in the Nurse's tent, they must all still be on their shifts.

He brought his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing the back of his chestnut hair and looked away. "Yeah I know. I heard screaming.. I came to help."

"You helped. Now I'd like to get dressed." I shot him a glare. He saluted with a grin and walked out of the tent.

* * *

I wasn't needed for a few more hours, so as soon as I got dress I decided to take a walk. I opened the flap of the tent to see the Sergeant leaned against the tent to the right.

"You're still here." I said, barely making eye contact and continuing on my way.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked, easily keeping pace with me. I said nothing as we made our way past the last row of tents. The forest on the outskirts of camp was more of a field with a small scattering of trees. I turned left and walked the perimeter of the forest. After another 10 minutes, the trees started to get closer together. There was a large boulder that was fairly wide. I carefully walked around it, making sure not to trip through the bushes that surrounded the rock. After making my way around, I couldn't help but take in the view. A few feet in front of the boulder was the edge of a cliff. Out past that, there were miles and miles of forest. You could see mountains in the distance, the sun beginning to shine down on everything.

A barely audible gasp was heard from behind me, telling me that the Sergeant had followed me around. I took a seat on the ground, with my back against the hard rock. I patted the ground next to me, making sure to avoid eye contact.

"I saw my family dying." I told him finally, after an hour or so in silence. The sun was fully up, now. I brought my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "We had just moved to London a few years before the war started. My father told us it was for his job." I laughed humorlessly. "He was fired almost as soon as we arrived. He was able to get a job as the person who sounded the sirens during an air raid. That night, I wouldn't let him leave the house. I had fallen asleep in the middle of the day, and had such a terrible nightmare. I told him something bad was going to happen, that we weren't safe.. He wouldn't believe me. He was over an hour late for his shift. By the time someone sounded the sirens, the bombs were dropping." I paused. "When the rubble settled the next morning, I was the only one left alive." I stopped and looked over, half expecting him to not even be there. He was looking at me like he was hanging onto my every word.

"What happened next?" He asked quietly, barely a whisper.

"After my family's funerals, I took whatever money I could find in the wreckage and went back to New York. I had an aunt there." I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. "I joined the army. Or tried to. A few times." At this I looked away. "I was lucky Peggy was there when I tried to enlist the fourth time."  
"Peggy… As in Agent Carter?" He sounded bewildered.

"Yeah." I flashed him a smile. "She recruited me as an SSR Agent. I became a pilot. I only thought it was fitting." I could feel my smile falter, more plastered to my face than anything. I was already feeling better. I hadn't told anyone, besides Peggy, why I enlisted. I hadn't even told Peggy about the nightmares, knowing she'd just worry. I never realized talking about them would make it easier to deal with them.

"I have a friend back in Brooklyn, you remind me of him." His smile genuine. "He's too sick to enlist, but he just keeps trying." His expression could only be described as wistful. "He's such a punk, always getting into fights. Never backs down, even when he should." I took a deep breath as he said, "I just realized, I don't even know your name."

"It's Elizabeth Bennett."

"Like the Jane Austen novel?" His brows furrowed together in confusion.

"You know Jane Austen?" I scoffed.

"I happened to go to school." He grinned.

"Jane Austen was my mother's favorite author, and when she realized she was marrying a Bennett… She couldn't resist." I shrugged, finally breaking eye contact and looking back out towards the sunrise. "My first name is Jane, I just go by my middle name."

"So do I." He stood up. "My middle name is Buchanan, but everyone calls me Bucky." I looked up at his outstretched hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

"Nice to meet you, Bucky."

"You too, Betty." He winked, eliciting a groan from me, and we headed back to camp.

* * *

" _ **No**_!" I jolted awake. I brought my shaking hands to my face and sighed. Another one.

"Go back to sleep, Bennett." I heard the girl to my right mumble. I knew I had woken her with my shout. In apology, I quickly got dressed in the dark, hoping I was putting my off duty uniform on correctly. As I left, I noticed Peggy's cot was empty. It usually was at this time, right before dawn. It was still dark out, but you could see the start of a sunrise. The glittering from the stars starting to fade from view.

I went to the usual spot, out towards the boulder. Having gone everytime time I had a nightmare, which was almost every night, I could easily make it in the dark now. Maybe 20 minutes had gone by before I could hear the footsteps.

"You're here again, Betty?" I could hear the smile in his voice from behind me.

"Yeah, Bucky." I turned to look at him. He had his sleep shirt unbuttoned a little, looking like he had dressed in a hurry. One pant leg was pushed up a little too far.

"Come on, doll. You need to sleep." He smirked at me.

"I could say the same to you, sweetheart." He laughed quietly at that and took his usual place on the ground to my right. We sat in silence for a little while, watching the sun rise, before he opened his mouth again.

"You nervous?" He whispered, keeping his eyes towards the sunrise.

"Yeah, actually. I am." I looked at my hands in my lap. I was the only female pilot for the SSR, this was going to be my first mission. After breakfast was my mission briefing, to find out exactly where I would be flying.

"You'll be fine. I'm with you." He threw his arm around me, quickly pulling me from my reverie. I put my head on his shoulder, just happy he was there. Trying, and failing, to calm my heartbeat in case he could hear it. It had only been two weeks, but I felt as if we had been friends since birth.

"My hero." I smiled and pulled away. "Come on, we need food if you're going to kill some Nazi's."

He quickly stood up and offered me his hand like he always did. "You call what they give us food?" He pulled a face as I took his hand and stood up.

* * *

"Were you planning on telling me?" I glared at the two of them accusingly.

"It's a need to know basis. Until now, you didn't need to know." Colonel Philips growled back.

"Hydra started out as the Nazi deep-science division." Peggy said, giving Philips a sideways glance. He didn't say anything, so she continued. "But as of late, they've turned more into a cult. They worship Schmidt like he's a god. He has bigger ambitions than just winning the war."

"Bigger ambitions?" I looked to Philips. "What could be bigger than winning the war?"

"World domination." I heard from behind me. I twirled to see none other than Howard Stark walk towards us. I glanced to Philips again, sure he was going to yell at the newcomer. Again, he said nothing, which meant that Stark was part of this.

"You're kidding, right?" I laughed. "He wants to take over the whole world?" A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Why are you just now telling me this?"

Peggy looked uncomfortable, but she hid it well. "The SSR has just been retasked. We're taking the fight to Hydra." She glanced to Philips again, who decided now was a good time to speak.

"You're taking the 107th to a Hydra base in Azzano."

"Is that wise, sir? Do we know what Hydra is capable of yet?" My mind was still reeling at all of this new information.

"We do." He turned "That's why the men are jumping in."

"Why aren't they marching?"

"The base is 30 miles behind enemy lines. Heavily fortified. They would never make it." Peggy replied.

"Am I.." I took a deep breath, knowing that what I had to say sounded weak. "Am I going in alone?"

"No, darling. I'm going with you." Howard Stark grinned from beside me."You're gonna need all the help you can get." I locked eyes with Peggy, who sent me an apologetic look before she left with Philips.

"You're leaving at 0800!" She called over her shoulder.

* * *

"It's all my fault!" I screamed at her. Why wouldn't she understand? I was the one who flew those men to their deaths.

"It's not your fault." She rubbed my back consolingly. "We had no idea it was an ambush. Some of them are merely captured." We were sitting on my cot, the only two in the tent. "Almost 50 of them came back!" She tried to sound cheerful.

"But he didn't."

* * *

"Elizabeth!" I looked up from the letter I was writing. Peggy came running into the tent, followed by none other than Captain America. "Look who's here!"

"I can see who it is very clearly." I sighed and set my letter aside. It had been almost a month since most of the men were killed or captured. I spent most of my free time in the tent, writing letters I would never send.

"Uh, hi." He gave a small wave. "My name is Steve-"

"Yes, it's nice to meet you, Captain." I stood up. "But if you'll excuse me." As I went to walk past them, I felt Peggy grab my arm and pull me back.

"You can't be miserable forever." She glared at me.

"I would like to try." I glared back.

"What happened?" Steve asked, concern showing on his face.

"I flew the 107th to their deaths, that's what happened."

"Wait, the 107th?" He looked shocked, his eyes going straight to Peggy.

"Yes, Steve. The men out there are all who came back."

Steve ran out of the tent, Peggy following close behind after a brief glance towards me. I sighed again, and walked out after them. The rain was relentless - when did it start raining? - but I couldn't be inside a tent. I missed him. I had no right to, but I did. I started to walk, not caring where I ended up. I still had my nightmares, I'm sure I always would. But when I woke up, I wasn't scared anymore. I didn't feel alone. In those two short weeks, Bucky had become my best friend. We were inseparable. The only thing that scared me was when I started to feel something more. I wanted to be something more. More than friends. More than what we were. I didn't know if he felt the same, but I had to tell him. I was planning on saying something after he got back from the mission. But he never came back.

I tripped over a tree root, bringing myself back to the present. I caught myself and looked up, seeing the big rock in front of me. _Our rock._ I felt the tears start to fall. I heard a rustling in the bushes to my left and looked over. The trees were too thick to see too far into them. By the time I saw the man step out from behind a tree, it was too late.

* * *

The first thing I could feel was fire. It started deep inside, rushing through my veins to my fingertips. It was consuming everything. The flames were constant, unyielding. I could feel them in my head, my chest, my legs. Everywhere all at once. In the recesses of my mind, I could hear a faint screaming. The more I tried to focus on that, the more I realized it was me. But I couldn't stop. The pain was too much. As soon as I came to the conclusion that I was going to die, the fire stopped. I was left gasping for air, a sharp pain in my throat.

"Good, good." An accented voice said from above me. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry. "She has not died." The owner of the voice moved away, and I saw the outline of another person take their place. Where the head was supposed to be, was what looked like what was supposed to be a skull, but red. I blinked a few times to check my vision, but the view never changed.

"Is she the same as the other? The soldier?" It asked expectantly. I shut my eyes again, the blurriness causing my head to hurt.

"Yes and no." The owner of the first voice sounding like it came back to stand above me again.

"What does that mean, doctor?" The second voice demanded.

"It means that although it worked for strength and longevity…" I felt a needle poke into my arm and the resultant intake of breath caused me to wince in pain. "She has manifested some rather strange abilities. Far exceeding the soldier." I opened my eyes, trying to figure out what they were talking about. The blurriness was still there, but there was a blackness that seemed to be surrounding my vision. I closed my eyes when a bout of nausea hit me. I knew they were talking about me, that much was clear. I had no idea who the soldier was. No idea who they were. It felt like my thoughts were being dragged through mud before I was able to think them. It was taking everything I had just to realize what words they were saying.

"And how did we acquire her?" The second voice asked again, sounding like he didn't care about the answer.

"Our agent went to the outskirts of their camp to spy for us. She crossed paths with him." I felt another needle poke into my arm. "With all of our other subjects gone, he knew we needed someone new. I have-" Right as I heard them start to walk away, the fire came back. This time I knew I was dying.


End file.
